IUCN status: Near Threatened
EPBC Predator Threat Rating: Very high/Extreme
IUCN claim: “The introduction of the predatory Red Fox and feral cats has had a profound impact and continues to be a major threat today (Friend 2008).”
A poison-baiting campaign initiated in 1982 was followed by a population increase (Friend 1990) until 1992 (Friend & Thomas 1994), after which the population crashed (Friend & Page 2017).
Foxes were not the main cause of mortality nor the main predator of reintroduced numbats (Friend & Thomas 1994). Numbats were last confirmed in NSW 3 years before foxes arrived (Current submission).
There are no studies evidencing a negative association between
numbats and foxes. Poison-baiting is not a reliable proxy for fox
abundance. In contradiction with the claim, the extirpation record
pre-dates the fox arrival record.
Evidence linking Myrmecobius fasciatus to foxes. A. Systematic review of evidence for an association between Myrmecobius fasciatus and foxes. Positive studies are in support of the hypothesis that foxes contribute to the decline of Myrmecobius fasciatus, negative studies are not in support. Predation studies include studies documenting hunting or scavenging; baiting studies are associations between poison baiting and threatened mammal abundance where information on predator abundance is not provided; population studies are associations between threatened mammal and predator abundance. B. Last records of extirpated populations relative to earliest local records of foxes. Error bars show record uncertainty range. Predator arrival records were digitized from Fairfax 2019. See methods section in [current submission] for details on evidence categories.
Current submission (2023) Scant evidence that introduced predators cause extinctions.
EPBC. (2015) Threat Abatement Plan for Predation by Feral Cats. Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, Department of Environment, Government of Australia. (Table A1).
Fairfax, Dispersal of the introduced red fox (Vulpes vulpes) across Australia. Biol. Invasions 21, 1259-1268 (2019).
Friend, J.A. and Thomas, N.D., 1994. Reintroduction and the numbat recovery programme. Reintroduction Biology of Australian and New Zealand Fauna’.(Ed. M. Serena.) pp, pp.189-198.
Friend, J.A., 1990. The numbat Myrmecobius fasciatus (Myrmecobiidae): history of decline and potential for recovery. In Proceedings of the Ecological Society of Australia (Vol. 16, pp. 369-377).
Friend, J.A., Page, M.J., 2017. Numbat (Myrmecobius fasciatus) Recovery Plan. Wildlife Management Program No. 60 in Department of Parks and Wildlife, Western Australia
IUCN Red List. https://www.iucnredlist.org/ Accessed June 2023